Grès

Grès was a French haute couture fashion house. Parfums Grès is the associated perfume house, which still exists, and is now based in Switzerland.

"Madame Grès"

History

Germaine Émilie Krebs (1903–1993), known as Alix Barton and later as "Madame Grès", launched her design house under the name Grès in Paris in 1942. Formally trained as a sculptress, she produced haute couture designs for an array of fashionable women, including the Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Dolores del Río. Her signature was cut-outs on gowns that made exposed skin part of the design, yet still had a classical, sophisticated feel. She was renowned for being the last of the haute couture houses to establish a ready-to-wear line, which she called a "prostitution".

The name Grès was a partial anagram of her husband's first name and alias. He was Serge Czerefkov, a Russian painter, who left her soon after the house's creation. Grès enjoyed years of critical successes but, after Grès herself sold the business in the 1980s, it faltered.

Parfums Grès

Grès's first and most famous perfume was Cabochard, created by Bernard Chant, and launched in 1959 It is possible still sold in stores, and is still the best perfume she ever created.

Other perfumes, launched after the sale of the company, include:

• Cabotine (1990)
• Folie Douce (1997)
• Cabaret (2003)
• Caline (2005)
• Caline Night (2006)

Biography

• Laurence Benaïm, Madame Grès, Editions Assouline, 1999 (in French)
• Patricia Mears, Madame Grès: Sphinx of Fashion, Yale University Press, 2008

External links

• Grès designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• Sewing patterns by Madame Grès
• Some photos of her clothes: Dress (1971), Dinner Jacket (1939), Evening Gown (1979), Cocktail Dress (ca. 1960), Evening Gown (ca. 1965), Evening Dress (1958), Afternoon dress (1964), Suits (1962), Draped Dress (1963), Evening Dress (1971), Coat (1963)